For 40 years, Foster and Adoptive Family Services (FAFS) has provided support, training and advocacy to meet the special needs of foster, adoptive and kinship families, who provide safe, stable and nurturing homes for children in foster care. As our 40th year comes to a close, FAFS CEO Mary Jane Awrachow reflects on what this anniversary means for FAFS moving forward.

A message from FAFS’ CEO Mary Jane Awrachow :

There are three words that signify what the 40th Anniversary of Foster and Adoptive Family Services has meant to us.

The first word is celebration.

This anniversary was a celebration of how FAFS has grown during our 40 years. From our humble beginnings, when Hattie Talley and Sue and Bernie Dondiego sat around a kitchen table in 1972 to the fully staffed robust and active organization we are today, we’ve expanded our services to cover the needs of foster, adoptive and kinship parents. Continue reading →

Grandparents Raising Grandchildren Make a Lasting Impact

Grandparents Raising Grandchildren

I believe there are imaginary threads in everyone’s life, and these threads are connected. If you pull on these threads you will find the answers to why you do the things you do. These threads bind your life together and give meaning to your actions. Often times, these threads are the people who mean the most to you – for me, my grandmother is the reason I work at Foster and Adoptive Family Services (FAFS).

I don’t mean this literally. My grandmother died long before I thought about changing careers from corporate to non-profit. She never advised me on what career to choose, but she is the reason I am here. I’ve come to this realization over the last few years, and, frankly, it came as a shock to me. Continue reading →